31 Euphrosyne facts for kids
31 Euphrosyne is one of the largest asteroids found in the main asteroid belt. It was discovered by James Ferguson on September 1, 1854. This was a special moment because it was the first asteroid ever found from North America. The name Euphrosyne comes from Euphrosyne, who was one of the Charites (Graces) in Greek mythology.
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | J. Ferguson |
| Discovery date | September 1, 1854 |
| Designations | |
| A907 GP; A918 GB | |
| Main belt | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch December 31, 2006 (JD 2454100.5) | |
| Aphelion | 577.571 Gm (3.861 AU) |
| Perihelion | 364.755 Gm (2.438 AU) |
| 471.163 Gm (3.150 AU) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.226 |
| 2041.585 d (5.59 a) | |
|
Average orbital speed
|
16.57 km/s |
| 14.500° | |
| Inclination | 26.316° |
| 31.238° | |
| 61.996° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 255.9 km |
| Mass | ~1.69×1019 kg |
|
Mean density
|
~1.9 g/cm³ |
| ~0.0679 m/s² | |
| ~0.1319 km/s | |
| 0.2305 d (5.531 h) | |
| Albedo | 0.0543 |
| Temperature | ~159 K |
|
Spectral type
|
C |
| 6.74 | |
About 31 Euphrosyne
31 Euphrosyne is the eighth largest asteroid in the main belt. It holds about 1% of the total mass of all asteroids in the belt. Even though it's so big, it's very dark. It's also located near the outer edge of the asteroid belt.
Because it's so dark and far away, you can never see Euphrosyne with binoculars. Even at its brightest, it's fainter than any of the first 30 asteroids ever found. This makes it quite a challenge for astronomers to study.
What is it Like?
Scientists haven't studied 31 Euphrosyne as much as other large asteroids. It is known as a C-type asteroid. This means it has a very old, primitive surface. Its surface is likely made of carbon-rich materials.
Its density seems to be quite low. This suggests that Euphrosyne might be a "rubble pile." A rubble pile asteroid is like a loose collection of rocks and dust. It forms when an asteroid breaks apart from a collision, and then its pieces slowly come back together due to gravity.
Euphrosyne spins around quite quickly. It completes one full rotation in about 5.5 hours. This is a common rotation speed for large asteroids. However, we don't know the tilt of its axis, which affects how it spins in space.
Its Special Orbit
Euphrosyne has a very unusual orbit around the Sun. Its path is quite tilted and not very circular. This is similar to the orbit of another large asteroid called 2 Pallas. It also shares this tilted orbit with Eris, a dwarf planet.
What makes Euphrosyne's orbit even more unique is where its closest point to the Sun (called perihelion) is located. This point is at the northernmost part of its orbit. This means that when Euphrosyne is closest to the Sun, it is also very high in the sky if you are looking from places in the northern part of Earth.
However, if you live in countries like New Zealand or Chile, which are in the Southern Hemisphere, you would not be able to see Euphrosyne during these times. Its special orbit makes it visible only from certain parts of the world at specific times.
See also
In Spanish: (31) Euphrosyne para niños
